Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- Date of artifical silk 1884. Date of photographs unknown, late 20th Century. (Creation)
Level of description
Series
Extent and medium
10 items
Context area
Name of creator
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Set of photographs of some early specimens of artificial silk made by Sir Joseph Swan and his wife Hannah Swan.
In 1883, Swan patented a synthetic material he had invented while developing the carbon filament; his wife and daughter crocheted swaths of this "artificial silk," which he exhibited in 1885. Originally developed for carbonization and use as filaments, the cotton was nitrated to produce nitrocellulose, a volatile substance that Swan extruded in acetic acid through a grid of small holes to form thin threads that were then treated with a coagulating fluid to transform them into inert cellulose. When these filaments proved unsuccessful in his incandescent bulbs, he abandoned the fibre and sold the patent rights to Courtaulds, which later developed it into rayon, one of the first synthetic fibres.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright held by Science Museum London
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Photograph(s)